The present invention relates to archery bows, and more particularly to a cable guard and cable guide for archery bows.
Conventional compound archery bows include a bowstring and a set of cables, usually an up cable and a down cable, to transfer energy from the limbs and cams or pulleys (which are both referred to generally as “cams” herein) of the bow to the bowstring, and thus an arrow shot from the bow. The cables and bowstring are strung from a cam on one limb to a cam on another limb. Typically, the bowstring is positioned very close to the cables due to the configuration of the cams. To avoid interference between the vanes of an arrow shot from the bowstring and the cables, most compound bows include cable guards.
Generally, cable guards provide adequate clearance for arrow vanes or fletchings in the lateral spacing between cables and the plane in which the bowstring travels. The clearance can be achieved by offsetting the cables from the path or plane of the bowstring with the cable guard. Most cable guards include one or more cable guides that work with the cable guard to distance the cables from the cable guard, as well as from one another.
Many cable guards include a bar that extends from the riser of a bow. A cable guide is usually slidably mounted on the bar. The cable guide typically defines two open ended slots, one for receiving an up cable of the bow, the other for slidably receiving a down cable of the bow. Although this construction provides effective cable clearance, over time, the cable guide can wear, leading to abrasion or other damage to the cables. Moreover, the sliding movement of the cable guide on the cable guard can also cause wear to both structures, and can undesirably complicate the assembly.
More recent cable guard constructions have implemented pulleys. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,354 to Land discloses a cable guard including pulleys that serve as the cable guides. Although this design provides effective cable guidance, it too includes moving parts that must be monitored for wear and surfaces that can cause premature wear or abrasion on the cables.
While conventional cable guards and guides provide decent guidance for cables, there remains room for improvement to provide an archery bow with simple cable guards and guides that perform in an efficient and reliable manner.